


Past Lives

by TruePrussian



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2019-09-30 07:54:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17219945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TruePrussian/pseuds/TruePrussian
Summary: How I imagine the characters died in a past life, and how that shapes who they are today.





	1. Zen

It was cold, rainy, and damp. Wet concrete made it hard for the boy to move along on his new bike. He decided to make his way to the town centre on foot, holding his bike to his side. It didn't help that he had no umbrella to shelter him. He would surely wet any seat he would sit on in the centre.

He sighed to himself, exhausted from the long day of work. The night time didn't exactly fuel Hyun's energy to work on his community service. Only an hour of work, and he'd make back all the potential jail time. He was so lucky he had gotten a simple slap of the wrist for his offences. Although, Hyun knows what the town has been saying about him.

"That child is the devil, do you not see it?"

"All that freak does is cause panic in this town!"

"A young adult like him should be working at some shoe shop, not trying to disgrace this community."

Hyun continues his journey as he thinks about the comments. It's upsetting he had to be born this way. He was an orphan, probably abandoned due to his parents believing what the town had said. He did look the part of the devil with his silver hair and piercing red eyes. He didn't quite enjoy standing out in the black of the night.

"Hey," Hyun had heard someone call. He had thought the town was empty at this time in the night. 

"Stop walking and turn around." Hyun decided to listen to the aggravating voice, and turned to see a couple large men. He presumed they were about his age; maybe one was a bit older.

"What do you thugs want?" Hyun replied, finding himself slightly irritated to be stopped on his way to work.

The men don't answer his question, instead approaching him with smirks and snickers. There seemed to be three or four of them, but it was hard to tell with how dark it was outside. Only a street lamp down the block seemed to light the way.

"I asked you guys a question, now answer it," Hyun demands.

A laugh comes from the man who seems to be leading the group. "You think you're so tough, huh?" He cracks his knuckles, and the smile on the man's face drops. "Heard that you were messing with my girl Kyungju, demon."

Hyun tries to think back to who that might be, and remembers a sweet girl that comes to his work quite often. He didn't quite understand why a girl like her was interested in mechanical repairs, but she always seemed to beam when he was around. After examining the group a bit longer, Hyun seems to recognize the group a bit more.

"You're all that biker gang that comes to my old man's shop, aren't ya?"

"So what?" the man in the front replies, a hand displaying his vocals whilst the other rested in his pocket. "You were messing with my girlfriend, buddy. Anyone who touches her except me gets a punishment." He seems to be fiddling with something in his jacket. "But it's clear that a demon like you needs some extra strong lessons."

Hyun felt very confused. "I think you have the wrong guy, alright? Your girlfriend just visits the shop. We barely even talk."

"Bullshit!" The man yells, his mood starting to burn up. "You're the devil responsible for her coming to me all beaten up! Everyone in town knows that shit!!"

Hyun was a tough man, but once he saw that his small gang didn't even flinch as he pulled out a switch knife, he had to make a run for it. His bike crashed onto the ground as he started sprinting into any direction away from the gang. The roads were hard to navigate, and through his rush he couldn't even notice the towns people hurling insults at him. He seemed to have stirred the hold road awake from the gang leader's yelling.

He didn't bother looking behind him. He knew they were close by. He could hear gunshots as pebbles bursted by his feet. He soon found his way taking a turn to leave the main street. Hyun ran into the alleyway, now completely blinded by the dark. He kept on running until he crashed forwards, falling back in pain. Shit, he hit a wall, and even shittier, this meant he was stuck in a dead end.

He got himself to standing and turned, now facing the gang at the one place he could escape.

"You fucking rapist. I'm gonna cut your guts out.." the leader mumbled, and all Hyun could focus on was finding a way out. 

The leader guarded the exit as two of his men made their way towards Hyun. He threw a couple easy punches, but they never hit. He soon found himself caught onto the ground, the two men now holding down his arms and legs into wet and dirty concrete.

The leader approached along with the last member as Hyun struggled to escape.

"You think I'm gonna let you go? You're gonna die today, kid. Even better..." his switch blade came to sit on Hyun's neck as his worries became stronger, "you're gonna pay for what you did." 

Instead of slicing his neck like Hyun had thought, the knife travelled downwards. The blade ripped and cut through his shirt, now exposing his chest. "N-No, let me go..!" Hyun uttered, understanding what was to come. "LET ME THE FUCK GO!"

"Did you not hear me?" the gang leader said, "There's no way you're getting out of this." Hyun shut his eyes tightly, ashamed of how he was being treated. He tried to ignore the feeling of his shirt falling open to his sides, the clinks from his belt coming undone, the shuffling of his pants down, but he couldn't simply ignore what was happening to him.

He thrashed around, trying to kick or punch the men surrounding him. As his pants got removed, he succeeded in kicking someone's face in whilst their guard was down. But that only resulted in more pain. The empty handed gang member came down on his foot hard with a kick, causing Hyun to project a blood curdling scream in pain. His foot felt broken, and the guy kept going, kicking, breaking his foot until his tears were so fat and his cries died down.

He whimpered in pain from the assault, and he didn't feel completely conscious through the rest of it. At this point, the other men started to join in. They belittled him and hurt him as well, no more need to restrain him if his body couldn't fight back. Hyun felt like he was floating, only crying out as the leader assaulting him would give him a new cut and let him bleed out. Hyun stopped crying after a bit, only focus on the feeling of the cold ground and the incessant sounds of skin smacking.

"Don't worry, demon boy," the leader seemed to speak to him between his own grunts, "You'll go back to your place in hell in no time. So why don't you try and enjoy yourself, huh?" He came in close along Hyun's face, making him feel even more disgusted. "Try and find your happy place, the place you'll feel the most... the most Zen."

The last conscious thing he could remember was the throbbing pain in his chest, coming from a fresh, neat stab wound.


	2. Jaehee

Wake up.

Brush teeth.

Shower.

Change into clothes.

Class time.

Study.

Eat.

Study.

Work.

Study.

Sleep.

  
The cycle was continuous, almost never ending as Jaehee reached with a trembling hand to have another sip of coffee. Sure, she had already gotten six, but she drank plenty of water. She still slept at least 3 hours during the day or night somehow. She still managed to get herself out into the world everyday, so what was the harm.

She took the chug, her neurons firing at the attention of caffeine filling her system. It was almost surreal how happy it made her, even if just for a few seconds. And just as quickly as it came, a new feeling of focus and anxiety bothered her fingertips.

Focus.

School had not been an easy thing to take on. Not with having to work, having to find another job, having to find a better job. Her entire family was depending on her earning her degree, making money, being successful. All there was to do was score at honors level, and get the scholarship. She could do that, she just needed to keep persevering.

Another sip, firing more of that satisfaction through her brain. Yes, she could definitely get that scholarship. Only half the textbook was left anyways. She could finish that within the next few hours, maybe score a bit of extra nap time, and then get up to start classes again.

Jaehee had also considered tutoring, but after the amount of work, studies, activities, volunteering, student council meetings and much more starting to build up, taking on another task would probably make things even more difficult. The only free time she ever got was spent on helping the school's yearly theater production. It was interesting to be a production assistant, helping in making the show something even if she wasn't in it. She could appreciate her work from afar, from her room, from wherever she will be studying in the future.

Another page.

Jaehee's eyes scanned the book quickly, but continued going over the page, the diagram, the words, desperately needing to memorise everything there was to know. If she did not become valedictorian, would she have even proved herself? She needed to work harder, needed to no more, needed to be the best in what she can do.

Be productive. Efficient. Swift.

She went for another sip, only to realize that her cup was empty. A quick anger flashed through her, only dissipating into irritation.

I can just get another once I finish this chapter. I can last that long.

Her eyes flickered across the text, it almost distorting to her vision. The plastic film like pages reflected the light back into her eyes, irritating her much more. She held the book up with her hands, tilting it to remove the shine of the paper.

As she continued with the chapter, her eyes noticeably began to burn and her head felt like it was being braced. A headache was the least of her problems. She closed her eyes momentarily, taking in a deep breath to relax and restart her focus. As she let out the harsh breath, she opened her eyes to continue her read. Her eyes still felt heavy in her face, especially as the pages seemed to distance themselves from her.

She was confused, tired, irritated, and simply brought the book closer as she tried to concentrate. But the book continued to move further away out of her vision, eyesight narrowing in almost a zoom-out fashion. It was trippy, feeling like she was about to fall backwards.

And she did.

Jaehee tumbled out of her chair, lying on the ground as her body momentarily felt paralyzed. She wanted to look around and try to see what was happening, but her entire body felt taught.

In a moment's notice, her body began convulsing on the floor. Her head hit the foot of her bed as her torso twitch itself over top of the chair. It felt like miniature bursts surging through her body without her control.

Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop!

She was terrified as she found that she couldn't speak. Jaehee's body convulsed against the floor lightly as her senses intensified. The room felt colder and had an awful underlying stench. Her fingertips buzzed as her ears rang, as well as finding herself becoming nauseated.

And then it stopped.

It hit Jaehee like a bag of bricks as her body remained still. She stayed there on the floor, trying to readjust her breathing. It was a shock, like she had just been thrown back into her normal being.

Jaehee sat up eventually with time, looking at the clock. It had only lasted a few short minutes, and yet when she had experienced it, she couldn't help but feel trapped. She was glad that it seemed no one woke up from her crisis. It was the middle of the night after all, everyone already having gone to bed.

Even with that chapter she needed to finish, as well as the textbook in general, she decided to follow her better judgement and get herself to bed.

It still felt troubling, that uncomfortable feeling that bad things were still going to happen even when she did put the chair back at her desk and change, even when she would turn off the lights and slip under the covers for the sweet relief of sleep.

It was a restless night, mostly. Jaehee's mind filled with feelings of fear and anxiety, as well as oncoming hints of rage and joy. She didn't know if what she had just felt was normal. None of her friends had ever spoken of this when it came to pulling all nighters or studying too much. But then again, she didn't speak to her friends much nowadays.

But eventually her body gave in to the desire to sleep, and she didn't get that moment of realization as her body convulsed in her sleep, limbs and consciousness paralyzed, causing her to never open her eyes again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was actually planning on having Jaehee suffer from a stroke, but it would be much less dramatic. Also, my fingers just kind of ended up typing "seizures when conscious" when it came the time to write this.
> 
> Also, this will be an easy work for me to work on since I actually have all the chapters for each main character worked out. So look forward to more Mystic Messenger fics in the future.


End file.
